dark as Egypt en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- /ˌdɑɹk‿əz ˈid͡ʒɪpt/ (General-American)
- (Southern-England) audio
- /ˌdɑːk‿əz ˈiːd͡ʒɪpt/ (Received-Pronunciation)
Etymology
From dark (adjective) + as + Egypt, referring to the ninth of the ten Plagues of Egypt which God inflicted on the Egyptians to convince the Pharaoh to free the enslaved Israelites, described in Exodus 10:21–23 of the Bible (King James Version, spelling modernized): “And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt. And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven: and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.”
Meanings
-
(dated, not-comparable, qualifier:simile) Extremely dark.
Flashes of lightning lit the canvas walls and air that was hot and suffocating just an hour before was now icy cold. Though only mid-afternoon, it was dark as Egypt.
2015 March, S[usan] K. Salzer, chapter 4, in Frontier, Pinnacle Books, Kensington Publishing Corp., →ISBN, page 37:["][I]t's a long way to the stable, and no one to send." / "I'll go." / "No, indeed; it's past ten, and dark as Egypt. […] I'll rest till Hannah comes, and then do the best I can."
1868, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, “The Laurence Boy”, in Little Women: […], 1st part, Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, published 1869, →OCLC, page 50:With the Furies at her heels, she bounded down the cellar steps, not even pausing to remember what had once lain at the foot of them. The place was dark as Egypt, but she struck a match, and breathed again.
1937, Dorothy L[eigh] Sayers, “[Prothalamion] Prickly Pear”, in Busman’s Honeymoon: A Love Story with Detective Interruptions, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace and Company, →OCLC, page 317:Rich[ard]. He muſt have a havvk's eye to ſee the ſtars this evening. VVhy don't you knovv, Jack, it is cloudy out a'doors? / Jack. That's nothing vvith him. He could look through the clouds vvith his glaſs, if it vvas as dark as Egypt, as eaſy as you can look into the other room; or, if he had a mind, he could bruſh avvay the clouds in a trice, vvith that long vvand he carries in his hand.
1797 May, [David] Everett, “The Conjurer, a Dialogue”, in Caleb Bingham, The Columbian Orator: Containing a Variety of Original and Selected Pieces; together with Rules; Calculated to Improve Youth and Others in the Ornamental and Useful Art of Eloquence. […], Boston, Mass.: […] Manning & Loring, for the author, […], for David West, […], and for John West, […], →OCLC, page 175:[I]t's as dark as Egypt outdoors. We might go to-morrow if there's a moon.
1911 October, Edith Wharton, chapter V, in Ethan Frome (The Scribner Library; SL8), New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, page 98:His subsequent appointments were: […] 1861–2, Roxbury, where he remarked that the first year was as dark as Egypt, but the second was a time of miracles, financially and spiritually; […]
1869, “Memoirs. Rev. Samuel Tupper.”, in Minutes of the Seventieth Session of the New-England Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Held at Lowell, Mass., March 24–30, 1869. […], Boston, Mass.: James P. Magee, […], →OCLC, pages 39–40:
Relateds
Synonyms
sunless · swarthy · fuliginous · twilightish · tenebrous · dull · stygian · leaden · shady · dark as pitch · dark · darksome · dim · darkling · caliginous · dimpsy · lightless · somber · pitch-dark · gloomy · dusky · infernal · murksome · mirksome · obscure · pitch-black · murky · sombrous · blear · tenebrose · dingy · umbrageous · cimmerian · crepuscular · adumbral · unilluminated · dark as the inside of a cow
wikipedia: Plagues of Egypt · wikipedia: Book of Exodus · wikipedia: Moses